Defence ministry dismisses military leaders
The Russian General Staff will be reduced with 50 percent of its manpower according to a radical reorganisation plan from the Defence Ministry.
The reform proposal includes up to 50 percent cuts in several key General Staff units. More than 1000 people will lose their jobs, newspaper Vedomosti reports.
The Defence Ministry argues that the number of people working in the General Staff has remained high, while the Armed Forces have undergone major reductions. The reform will optimize the number of people working in the military elite structure, ministry officials say.
The job cuts will especially take place in the General Staff’s economics and law departments, where military men will be replaced with civil specialists.
Meanwhile, a number of analysts now fear that the reform could hamper the capacities and preparedness of the Armed Forces, Newsru.com reports.
The reorganisation of the armed structures is reported to have picked pace after the dismissal of Head of General Staff, Yuri Baluevskii in May this year.
The Russian military reform will not only take place on the top adminstrative level. According to
, Russia now also plans the development of a rapid reaction force.
